Posts Tagged ‘at church’
Yesterday, something happened that was perhaps neater than anything so far in these smiling experiments: My mother-in-law was over and my oldest son gave her a hug after my wife said for him to do this! (And this was very unusual!) Weather my smiling had anything to do with it, I am not sure, but I know my mother-in-law has been so much cheerier to not only me but my wife (her daughter) since I started this whole project. And I think it is starting to have an effect on my oldest son as well!
Otherwise, yesterday we were at church and my wife and I had a nice time at service. After church my wife and her mom went to town. And in the evening we all spent some time together as a family.
All in all it was a nice day.
This day I interacted with friends at church again. I put on the smiles for those I spoke with before service. The reactions were positive, but I think they would have been positive even without the extra grins. Otherwise, as we sang our songs at the beginning of service, I found myself rejoicing in how blessed I am in so many ways – So I had on a smile, but I was not smiling at anyone in particular.
Back at home I continued with the smiles. My youngest son always smiles back I noticed. And my middle son, always up for a good joke, usually smiles back. And I think I might even be starting to get through to my oldest teen – that is going to take some work. . . check back at about day 29 or so!
My oldest daughter, age 10, cleaned up the house by herself (without being asked) while my wife was away visiting a friend. That made my wife smile when she got home.
This day featured time at church. And we have a bit of time before service to just chat. Actually, there is a whole hour since I bring my kids in for Sunday school. Sometimes in the past, I have felt slightly excluded or avoided. Not this day though! It was almost surreal – it was as if I was somebody else! It seems that smiling brings back smiles. And also, it is kind of difficult to talk about negative stuff when you smile, so the topics of conversation tend to be more positive. In turn, the smiles and more positive conversation triggers smiles and positive conversations by the other person. And now that I think about it, I am almost convinced that one person that seemed to be avoiding having a conversation with me in the past probably thought I was avoiding him!
After church, I got to spend some time with the kids. Smiles seem to hit them off-guard I think. After all, how many times does a parent smile at their child, other than a baby or toddler? Not enough I think. The reaction was less noticeable than with acquaintances at church, but still it was positive. I think it is going to take more than a day to get through to them though.
All in all it was an enjoyable day!
